Veteran Communist leader Somnath Chatterjee passes away

Chatterjee was admitted to a private hospital a few days back on Tuesday. He was suffering from age related ailments of heart, lung and kidney. Chatterjee suffered a mild heart attack yesterday.

A former CPM leader and a 10-time Lok Sabha MP, Chatterjee was the Speaker of the Lok Sabha during the UPA-I rule from 2004 to 2009. He was expelled from Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) in 2008 for not resigning as the Speaker after the party withdrew support from the UPA government over the Indo-US nuclear deal.

One of the longest-serving parliamentarians, Chatterjee, also an eminent jurist, was a member of the Lok Sabha from 1971 to 2009, except in the 1984 election when he was defeated by Mamata Banerjee.

President Ramnath Kovind and the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi have condoled the death of Somnath Chatterjee. In a tweet, Mr. Kovind said Chatterjee was a veteran parliamentarian who had a forceful presence in the House.

Prime Minister in his tweet said Chatterjee was a stalwart of Indian politics and he made Indian Parliamentary democracy richer. Mr. Narendra Modi said Chatterjee was a strong voice for the well-being of the poor and vulnerable.

Congress President, Rahul Gandhi while condoling the death of Somnath Chatterjee said he was a greatly respected and admired by all Parliamentarians across party lines.